


The Man and The Crow

by AngryMintLeaf



Category: Red vs. Blue, rvb - Fandom
Genre: Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Cussing, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, continuation after season thirteen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-19 15:32:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9447671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngryMintLeaf/pseuds/AngryMintLeaf
Summary: Its eyes are bleeding the color gold, a black slit tracing his every movement.It's not him.It can't be.It screams a blood-curdling cry to him, looking down at its hands and-Crying?[No Longer in the Works!]





	1. Last One Out, Turn off the Lights

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!  
> First of all, thank you for checking TMATC! This has been in the works for several months, and I am so overjoyed that it's now being uploaded and out of my head. This is also a continuation off of season 13, so keep that in mind if you can. Also, please keep a good eye on the tags, as I will likely add some if I get any new ideas.  
> Alright, TMATC will contain explicit content, including vivid descriptions of gore and sex. Again, the tags will be important for a good check here and there, as some things can change or be added.  
> This will be updated every two weeks, but some things can change due to my schedule.  
> Finally, yay you got this far, you can find me on my [tumblr](http://angrymintleaf.tumblr.com/),and please keep this in mind, as that is where any information about pushing back an update or something of the sort will be there.  
> Thank you for your time!

 

 

_"There's so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day,"_

_"And because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after,"_

 

_"But the hero never gets to see that ending. They'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference."_

 

_"They'll never know if the day was really saved,"_

 

_"In the end, they just have to have faith."_

 

* * *

 

Tucker doesn't move a muscle, the last words of Church playing over and over in his head, drowning out the cheers of joy over the radio. 

_He's gone._

He doesn't realize until a whole five seconds that the radio has gone utterly silent, Caboose looking at him weird, Sarge turning his head over to look at him, hell, all of them are looking at Tucker. He curses, realizing that he spoke out loud. 

Carolina's voice crackles over the radio, "Who, Tucker? Who's dead?"

Simmons speaks up, "No one is, we're all accounted for-"

He swallows, hard, _"_ _Epsilon is Gone."_

* * *

 

 Tucker looks out the window, eyes tracing the stars and the planet next to a station. They've been in this place for about two days now, as they didn't think of calling in beforehand. Now, it was just waiting for when they're going to leave sometime today.

"It's a nice view, isn't it."

Tucker snaps away from the window, eyes locking on to Wash's. He smiles, "Hell yeah it is. Can't believe I haven't done this earlier in my life."

"Yeah, with so much that has been going on, it's hard to focus on the scenery."

"Glad we're all taking this break from everything."

Wash nods, joining him by the window, "Hopefully nothing happens to Chorus while we're gone."

"Dude, don't worry about it, Kimball has it covered for sure. Plus, I heard that there was, even more, ships coming over to give supplies."

"Yeah, but you just can't help but worry."

"We'll be back in a few weeks, they'll handle it if anything goes on. They do have immediate contact with us if it does."

They both fall silent, looking at the dark vast in front of them. Tucker glances over at Wash, face expressing what could be explained as tired fascination, if that's even a thing. 

"Do you know when we get to the actual landing station?"

"Carolina says it'll be about an hour, as it was a bit of a struggle for them to find an escort for a group of people this large."

 "We should have called in," Tucker stands up straight, stretching his arms, "But we can finally get some time to actually fucking relax for once and not be worried about some giant ass corporation or mercenaries stalking our backs."

"That's for sure," Wash goes grim, "You don't happen to know where Caboose is, would you?"

"No, why?"

"I just..." Wash shifts the weight of his feet, "I just need to talk to him about Epsilon."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, thanks anyways. He's bound to be around here at the very least." Wash gives him a small wave before he walks away from Tucker, leaving him back to look out into space.

 

* * *

 

Everyone shuffles out of the shuttle, Grif being the first one out, "Fucking finally, being in there was just too fucking cramped."

"Grif-" Simmons speaks up, "You  _were_ the one taking up two whole seats just because you wanted to sleep."

"Hey! It was a time where I could sleep for once!"

"For once? You basically sleep whenever you want!"

"Stop the jabbering, you two, our escorts here." Sarge interrupts and points to a man walking towards them. He has dark brown hair that is very curly to the point that you could even see the frizz of it from a distance away. 

The man adjusts his glasses as he got in earshot distance, his voice mildly out of breath, "Hello! I'm going to be your escort on your trip-"

"We already know that," Someone pipes up behind Tucker.

"I-uh- well, my name is Kerman. This will be one of my several times doing this job, so you don't have to worry about a thing." 

Caboose pipes up, "You can call me Caboose, sir Kermit!"

"Kerman..." He quietly corrects.

Tucker steps forward, "The name's Tucker, the orange one's Grif, that's Simmons, Sarge, and Donut. You can just call them the reds-"

"Oh sorry, I already know your guys' aliases. I've heard your story all over the news. Can't even believe how you guys managed to take down a company that big."

"Oh," Tucker pauses, "Well that makes things easier."

"Don't you have an AI with you? It was one of the remains of Project Freelancer, right?" 

Carolina clears her throat, "Tucker's suit needs him to power it, so he's no longer with us, you could say."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that," He shakes his head, "Well, we should get you onto your ship to the planet."

"It's not like the shuttle we took here, right?" Grif says.

"Oh, no, I can assure you that it's an actual ship. We'll just have to check in first." Kerman turns around and walks into the station, the rest of them lagging a bit behind. The inside of the building was wider than expected, as a good several people sat at desks and behind them being multiple scanners and people's luggage. Tucker walks up to one of the check-in "stations." A man looks up from his paperwork, looking at Tucker, then all the people that walked in behind him.

"Excuse me, but you'll all need to take off your armor, so we can get you checked in. There's a bathroom over to your left if you want privacy, we'll send the armor over to your ship afterward along with any artillery."

"What?" Sarge questions, sounding offended, "You're going to strip us of our protection? That's unlawful!"

"Sir, you'll be given your stuff back once you're all checked in. Your luggage should also have arrived, so you'll be able to look for it  _after you're checked in._ " 

Tucker looks down at his hip where his sword is attached, it's small enough, so maybe they won't see it. The scanners are a problem for it being picked up, but it  _is_ alien tech. I may not be picked up by the scanners. "Hey, do the scanners pick up alien tech?"

"They're not the new ones, so they wouldn't, why?"

"I just have a..." He bites the inside of his mouth, "Necklace that has some alien stuff."

"Oh, okay. If it does pick it up on the scanner I can shut it down for you."

Tucker nods and backs away from the counter, deciding he can just get out of his armor right here. He unlatches his helmet, hearing the satisfying release of the pressure. He sets down the helmet next to his feet, then he moves his hands behind his back, finding the release and popping it off too. Tucker stops, holding the chest piece in place. It feels like he's killing something from taking it off. He bites his lip and sets down the chest piece next to his helmet and so on until he's just in his kevlar suit. 

Tucker picks up the armor and walks past the others who are changing as well. He heads back up to the counter, handing the guy behind the desk the pieces of armor. 

"Thank you, now can you please press your thumb down on that little black square right there?" The dude points towards a black piece in the counter and stands up to move the armor to a little basket. Tucker presses on it, making a red light appear, then a yellow, and finally a green one with a little ding accompanying it. "You can go get your luggage now!" The guy calls back, "Just please go through the scanners."

Tucker goes through the two scanners, fortunately not triggering them, and finally getting to a little place where luggage is piled on top of each other. Donut stands on the balls of his feet getting down some suitcases, other ones that resemble the reds and blues down on the floor next to him. 

"You change fast." Tucker strolls up to him.

"It's all with good practice!" Donut says, putting down another piece of luggage that looks like Doc's.

"You getting everyone's luggage?" He crosses his arms patiently as he sets down Tucker's.

"Yup, and I don't mind! Kerman says you can already head into the ship if you want, you'll just have to pack your stuff in it. Tucker nods, taking the handle and rolling it to their ship which was the one with the muppet trying to get the hatch to open.

"You need help with that?"

"There just seems to be a bit of a jam to the cargo section of the ship. Here, hold onto this and pull it open with me."

Tucker sets down his luggage against the wall, latching his hands onto the little bar.

"On three. One, two, three!" They both pull it with their strength, hearing it creak the longer they do so. It opens with a metallic groan, and they both stand back from it.

"Alright, you should be able to start putting your stuff in. Thanks for the help." Kerman heads back towards Donut's direction.

"Yup," Tucker lifts his suitcase in and carefully slides it, hearing it thump when it landed in there. He enters the actual ship, taking it all in. There was a good number of seats, enough for all of them, actually, and was a hell of a ton more spacious than the shuttle they took here. The door slides open, Carolina walking in, also looking at the ship.

"Hey, Carolina." Tucker greets.

"Hi," She sits down in one of the seats, "Caboose seems to be having a hard time without Epsilon."

Tucker sighs, "You don't have to keep reminding me." 

"I know it's just," She shakes her head, "He really can't function too well without him."

"He'll learn how to live without him, he did that in the canyon on Chorus."

"From what I've heard, he didn't manage too well."

"Yeah, he'll learn. I just don't want to deal with him being so whiney all the time."

"Mhmm," Carolina nods, now looking towards the door as Grif and Simmons walk in. The rest fill in, from Donut to Doc, Sarge, and finally, Caboose and Wash along with Kerman.

"Alright, everyone," Kerman stands in the seat's aisle once everyone's situated, "The flight will take about forty-five minutes, so before we go, I want to discuss a bit about Frídus, so you'll know your boundaries."

"First of all, we will not be landing in an actual city, the government is very picky about ship landings, so we'll have to walk to one of the small towns, stay the night and finally take a transport to the capital. There is also animals that can be extremely dangerous when hostile, your biggest worry would be the Ornerd, but it tends to pick out people that are not in groups, so we'll all have to stay close."

"When will I get my shotgun back, Mr. Muppet?" Sarge asks, and you could visibly see Kerman flinch at the new nickname.

"Well, all weaponry is confiscated and transported to the nearest town where they'll be kept when you get there."

"Blasphemy!" Sarge points his finger at the man.

"I'm sorry it's just policy."

"This planet sounds like a real pain in the ass," Grif comments.

"I can assure you, the capital is a marvelous place to spend your time and..." He looks at Caboose, his hand raised, "Y-yes?

"I, well, I do not want Freckles to be complicated, and I feel a lot better with him near me."

Kerman's face scrunches, Tucker sighs, "He has this gun with an AI in it, I guess, it's like a pet to him."

"Oh, then-"

"I don't want to lose someone else again," Caboose mumbles.

"I'll... I'll allow it. I'll see if I can get it before it gets shipped, one second." Kerman moves down the aisle and out of the ship. Tucker looks down at his hip, seeing the hilt of his sword. Thank whatever God there was for still being able to hold on to this. If they get into trouble he can at least have a better effort of protecting everyone. He quickly puts his hand over the sword as Kerman walks back in with Caboose's gun.

"I'm going to keep this in the cockpit with me, okay?" 

Caboose nods, face a bit brighter than before. It's kind of sad seeing the kid recovering from the loss of Church, he was pretty much Caboose's staple. Hell, he's been avoiding Tucker as much as possible recently and that's pretty reasonable if your best friend has to leave just to power someone's suit. Kerman heads inside the cockpit, the ship moving soon after. Sounds of chatter fill the room now, all of them looking at the very least comfortable. He smiles and turns his head to the side, facing the window. Hopefully, this place will be as good as it seems.

 

* * *

 

 

Tucker's eyes shoot open like a bullet into water, as they're experiencing some turbulence. He rubs his eyes and squints out the window, seeing the planet way closer than it was before he fell asleep. Hell, the turbulence could even be from entering the atmosphere. He adjusts himself, holding tightly onto the chair's armrests. He keeps his eyes looking out the window, watching how they're now pulling into the planet. You can see the ground now, as it looks like it's sand for miles upon miles. They start to land on top of what looks like a warehouse, Karmen coming out of the cockpit when it does. 

"Alright, we're here, everyone! The people at this warehouse will give us the necessary supplies to start our travel to a near town. The warehouse workers will work on sending your luggage to the town as well, as it would be even more of a hassle if we all walked with it."

"Excuse me," Grif says with hostility, "Did you say we were going to walk to the town?"

"I-uh-yes, we will be doing just that."

"Bullshit! Why can't we just fly there with this ship?"

"It's against the law."

"Why?!"

"Well, it's not safe to just have ships that could easily drop bombs onto the cities! If we had ships flying over our heads all the time, who knows what they could have on them!"

Grif groans again, Doc now picking up into the conversation, "You guys really do care about safety!"

"My point exactly! The walk over is actually pretty nice, as there won't be any sandstorms for the next... three days."

"Good to know?" Tucker says, eyebrows furrowing. 

Kerman walks down the aisle, unlocking the exit of the ship, everyone now getting up and following him out. They get into the warehouse, the people there looking bored as ever.

"Hello!" Kerman greets, "We need supplies for ten, please." 

Tucker watches as the person scurries into a back room to get the request, but turns his attention towards Wash. He looks... worried. Wash's attention is on the floor, while he also bites on the nail of his thumb. Tucker gently taps his shoulder and he shoots his head back to look at him, almost like Tucker startled him.

"Hey, whatcha think of Kermit? He just seems like the person that's super smart, but is just super annoying."

"You mean Kerman? He's nice, very professional too, I guess. Why do you guys keep calling him Kermit? What is that from?"

"Dude! Have you never seen the muppets?"

"No...?"

"Wash, I think someone hasn't experienced the right childhood. The nineteen-hundred shows are the best."

"Oh..."

Tucker bites the inside of his cheek, realizing his mistake of talking about childhood, "When we get to that capital, or whatever the fuck, we're marathoning the fuck out of it."

That earns him a little laugh, "If it's that good, alright."

"Yes! I could use that pickup line that I've never used before."

"Please keep it that way."

"Hey, baby, after you taste this sausage you'll have to call me the Swedish Chef." 

"Wha-What does that even mean?"

Grif turns around, the face of pure disgust on his face, "How in the living fuck do you have a pickup line for the muppets?"

"I have my ways, dude. I have my ways."

 Grif turns back around, rolling his eyes in repugnance. Tucker snaps his attention back up to the front, where clothes and what looks like canteens and other items sit on the table.

"Alright," Kerman turns around, "I want everyone to have this wrapped around you, like a cape almost, but also over your head. Go ahead and grab one, tell me if they don't fit right."

Tucker grabs one, already wrapping it around himself while Kerman continues to speak, "We also have canteens with water in them! Please only drink what's necessary, for this will be the only water we'll get until a town." 

Tucker's eyebrows furrow, but takes hold of a canteen heavy with water anyways, "Why couldn't we just land near the town?"

"Well, it's the same reason why we can't really fly overhead of cities. Bombs, missiles, anything really could be on any ship and we wouldn't know until we're attacked."

Tucker sighs, "I guess? It feels more like a hassle to me. We already go through the check in area to even get to the planet, so why would we not be trusted?"

"Oh, Tucker, no tourist is trusted. Well, by the government anyways. What if some ship came down without going through our procedures? The planet would be long gone, along with out beautiful oasis."

Tucker grimaces, but bites in the urge for a rebuttal. He  _is_ the guy leading them to the city. 

"Anyways, we should get going! We've already spent enough time here as it is." 

Everyone follows Kerman outside, into the desert, listening to the geography lesson by the man.

"Frídus is a very interesting planet, as one side of the hemisphere is pure desert, while the other is a landscape of snow for miles. The in between is just a good number of marshes and bodies of water, but unless you get permission, you won't be heading to the west hemisphere."

"Okay, okay, we get it," Grif speaks up, "We didn't come here for a lecture."

Carolina gives him a look, "It's necessary to know the geography of the planet we're in, Grif. Any other information you can tell us would be great, Kerman."

"Alright," A now noticeable smile in his voice, "I suppose I can tell you about Frídus' history..."

* * *

 

 It's been a good two hours of walking -and complaining- when the sky starts to turn darker.

"Uh, Kerman," Wash asks, "Should we be out here at night?"

"Night? Well, it's just- Oh god, you're right. I didn't realize the time when we left, shit." He stops walking, now pacing instead, "We'll have to set up camp, or something of the sort."

"With what, though? All we have is water and these robe things."

"Dammit," Kerman runs his fingers through his hair, "It's nearly impossible to walk in the dark on Frídus. We'll... just have to stay put until sunrise." 

"What? Are we just going to sleep on the desert floor?!" Grif exclaims.

"We would have to, if we continue walking we can end up splitting up. Visibility is reduced to about a foot in the dark, we could easily leave someone behind. Then..."

"The Ornerd, if I'm not mistaken, is a problem, right?" Simmons questions.

"We can fight it head on! Fight with fists until we can see the scared look in its eye!" Sarge says triumphantly.

"That's... not a good idea. If you get too close -and live- it's highly possible you can receive a parasite from the thing." 

"W-what would that parasite do?" Donut questions.

"Nothing good. We haven't been able to see what happens to a person once infected, as they all usually die by the attack itself. We'll have to do with staying together and staying put."

"Excuse me," Wash speaks up, "But how do you know for sure it avoids groups of people?"

"Well, it's a highly probable theory. These things are just so very dangerous that it's hard to study them."

"Probable theory? Oh, we are so dead." Tucker puts his hand to his head.

"What else makes them so dangerous?" Wash continues.

"They're usually nicknamed chicken men, as they can be as tall as a person when crouching down. The chicken part is about their wings being attached to their arms."

"We are  _soooo_ fucked." Tucker shakes his head.

 "We'll be alright," Kerman sits down in the sand, "We will just have to be careful, _and listen_."

* * *

 

 

Tucker's sure of it that no one is asleep, not even Grif it seems. Tucker pays attention to everything he can, people breathing, the occasional movements from someone, or just the feeling of sand being a "pillow." He is so going to get a cramp in his neck if he keeps it like this. 

"Hey," What sounds to be Kerman whispers, "I'm going to head to the bathroom, I'll be right back." 

"Dude, you'll get lost like you said."

"I can find my way back, I'll walk in a straight line and walk straight back."

Tucker rolls his eyes but doesn't argue. His ears pick up on Kerman's footsteps, overtime getting quieter and then silent. He better just stick nearby, if he goes too far the fucking chicken man can eat him. Tucker shuts his eyes tightly, discouraging the thought in his head. No one's going to get hurt and no one is going to die here. Not on their way to a fucking paradise, no fucking way. 

"Tucker, you awake?" The sound of Doc stirring him.

"What? No, I'm totally not awake."

"Sorry, but I can't help but worry about us."

"What do you mean?"

"He could have just left us on our own, he could easily leave and have us all die by dehydration or something."

Tucker bites his tongue, "You have a point, but I don't know if we could do anything about it now. He's already gone."

"I won't miss him!" Omali cackles, "He was annoying anyways."

Tucker opens his mouth to speak, but a horrid scream of pain stops him. His heartbeat thuds loudly in his head at the noise, still registering what that even was.

"Kerman-"

Another scream, even more painful this time, the sound of pure and utter pain pouring from the noise. Tucker gets up as quickly as he can, trying to see what direction it came from, eyes looking into the darkness to find something, anything. His hands go to his hip, listening intently. With no time to react, heavy sounds of feet come thundering towards the group. Another scream and Tucker pulls out his sword, the light showing a horrid display. A giant black and slimy abomination is running. Where? Where is it goin-

Tucker feels a horrid pain in his back as he's headbutted to the ground, more noise flooding to his head by gunfire. Freckles? He stands up beside the sharp feeling in his back, hunched over in pain. The gun stops shooting and Tucker runs towards where the sound of Freckles shooting was. Sword giving off enough light to see it.

_It's like time went still._

_Someone's in_ _its mouth._

_Who?_

_Wash._

_Why is there blood everywhere?_

_It's Wash's blood._

_Does it have him by the leg?_

_Its teeth are sinking into him._

_Help Him, Help Him, Help Him, **Help him, Help him, He-**_

 

The sound of the sword cutting through its torso, a sickening sizzle, causes an urge to puke in the back of his throat, but he hears it. Sounds clearing even more to the Ornerd shrieking with its last breath and Wash screaming in a blood-curdling manner. A repulsive smell of the thing is so very pungent. Tucker kneels over, heaving as his senses recollect all that has happened. 

 

_It's dark again._

 

 

 

 

 


	2. The Crow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update? Pffft what's that?  
> For any of those who actually read this sorry for not updating TMATC. The schedule will most likely be aloof as school is really kicking my ass right now.  
> Hope you understand.

_There are so many things swarming Wash's senses._

_Are there people yelling?_

_What is that smell?_

_What's pulsating in his leg?_

 

His face is in the sand, eyes weighted and tired. It all just went so fast.

Someone lifts his leg up, nimble fingers feeling around the wound. He winces, feeling the fingers touch it.

"Sorry!" Someone says.

"Is there sand in his wound?"

"I can't tell, it's too dark!"

"Tucker, would you please bring your sword over here!"

"Is everyone okay?" Wash croaks out.

"We're all fine except..."

"Kerman."

"Is he alive?"

"We don't know for sure."

A blue light flickers from Tucker's sword suddenly, a sight of his leg that's absolutely horrifying. It's completely covered in some type of black liquid and it feels like it's burning. Doc is kneeled down next to him, lifting up his leg. He reaches over for his canteen on his waist and starts pouring water on it. Wash grimaces, feeling the water hit the wound. He strains his eye open, though, watching the tar-like liquid getting washed away, but you can see the wound itself now.

"God, that is disgusting." Tucker looks away, still holding out his sword.

"Can someone tear off a piece of fabric from their-" Doc stops as he sees Carolina was already on the job of tearing out a piece of cloth. She hands Doc a long strip of it, also trying to look away. Doc wraps it as best he could around his leg, "This is certainly not good, Wash. It looked like there was sand in there and it even broke through the Kevlar- God, I've never even seen an alien laceration look like that."

"Do you think I would still be able to use the leg?"

Doc hesitates, "I-I don't know. The thing could have just promised you a prosthetic."

Tucker turns back around, "The parasite. Did you see anything with his veins or something?"

"I couldn't! The light provided by your sword isn't enough, I'm sorry."

Tucker grimaces, but Wash speaks up, "I'll be fine, if I lose a leg I'll still be in working condition."

"The unkillable Agent," Sarge says from somewhere.

Tucker's eyebrows furrow, mouth open with disgust, "You could lose a fucking leg!"

"Other people have sustained worst, I'll be fine."

"We don't know that! A fucking alien thing or whatever just bit your leg, we were told that it can carry parasites, and, hell, you could go into cardiac arrest or whatever the fuck!"

"That's right," Carolina speaks up, "We barely know anything about those things and our prime source of information could very well be dead."

"This is all just a fucking mess."

 

* * *

 

 

Morning broke and it's positive no one got a single ounce of rest. Wash sits up carefully, looking down at his left leg. The makeshift bandage didn't seem to have any blood soaked through it, which is good to see, yet there's a certain numbness to it.

Sarge stands up, stretching his arms as he does so, "Rise and shine, buttercups."

In a good span of a few minutes, everyone's standing up, well, with Caboose helping Wash anyways.

"Shouldn't we find Kerman?" Simmons asks, eyebrows furrowed with worry.

Carolina nods, "He might have some sort of directions to help us get to a town."

Everyone heads in the direction where the attack started from, north, if they remember correctly. It also seems like that was the direction they've been taking thus far, so it seems to be the best of both worlds. Five minutes into the walk and they see it. The corpse. Kerman's eyes are still open wide but are glazed over in a way Wash has seen too often. Everything below his waist has been viciously bit off, some of his intestines spilling out. The smell is disgusting, the fumes able to make Wash's eyes tear up.

"We should bury him." Caboose suggests meekly.

Wash looks up at him, "That's a great idea, Caboose. We should get started on that after we... search him." Wash trails off, realizing the morbidness of the statement.

Carolina kneels down next to his body, rolling him over where he's lying on his back. With a few prods here and there, she stands up and shakes her head.

"Nothing to be salvaged. Anything important would be in his lower half, and yes, a burial would be nice for the man."

Caboose props Wash to lean up against Tucker awkwardly to help dig out a hole for him. Sarge also helped dig it out along with Carolina, then they gently took him and sat him into the hole.

"A moment of silence before we bury him?" Sarge asks.

Carolina steps away, putting her hand to her heart. Wash looks down at the body, the true look of horror still managing to linger on Kerman's face. This should have never happened, if we just could have left earlier he would still be alive. Wash swallows a lump in his throat, the amalgamation probably ate his legs and left him to... bleed out. Sarge takes it upon himself to get the sand on top of Kerman to the best of his ability.

"You want me to hold you up this time instead of Caboose?" Tucker asks when they prepare to start walking again.

"I-uh- sure."

The group starts walking again, and Wash feels an odd strain in his gut. Not a feeling of illness, or even being disgusted, but rather a feeling of awkwardness in a way. He looks down in the sand, trying to discourage the thought. He should be mourning the loss of Kerman, apologizing for not being able to have saved him. But no, the feeling in his stomach lingers to no avail.

"Dude, you are so cold for being in a fucking desert."

"Never been one for too good of circulation, I guess."

"What?"

"Circulation, like the blood flow in the body that can also regulate-"

"Still have no idea what you're talking about, but cool."

"Uh, yeah."

"How's your leg feel?"

"Numb, in a way."

"That doesn't sound good? Hell, anything about the bite certainly isn't good."

Wash looks down at his leg, "Yeah, that's for sure."

 

* * *

 

"Oh, thank fucking God."

The town in front of them looks rather small, but it's civilization nonetheless. Someone on a front deck of a building waves, calling them over.

"Hey, you guys tourists?" Her accent heavy with an almost country-like-style.

"Yes, we are." Sarge answers.

"Oh, sweet. Your escort is here with you right?"

"We... had complications," Carolina speaks up.

"What? Like what?"

Carolina pauses, looking back at Wash with her eyebrows furrowed, "There was an Ornerd that managed to get a hold of him. Along with my leg."

"Shit, that's fucked up, but we'll  have to get you checked with Doctor Maxwell first. Come on in, he's in this here building."

Tucker shuffles Wash up the stairs and into the building, following the woman. A man with sleeves pushed up and hair slicked back sat at a counter, looking through a datapad.

"Doctor Maxwell! A tourist has an Ornerd bite on his, uh, leg."

The doctor looks away quickly from the data pad, "Which one of you has-" Wash raises his hand, "-Alright, follow me back."

Doctor Maxwell takes Tucker's place and walks Wash into what looks to be a Doctor's office. "Can you quickly stand as straight as you can against this wall here?" Wash follows his orders, Maxwell quickly getting his measurement, "Five foot eight, or one-hundred seventy-two centimeters, if you so prefer.."

He then helps Wash on top of a pull back chair and goes to get some gloves on. Wash can smell it, the familiar odor of a hospital engraved into his skull by now. Maxwell pulls up a rolling chair, distracting Wash from thinking on about the smell any longer, and goes up to Wash's leg, unwrapping the makeshift bandage.

"When did you receive the laceration?"

"Last night."

He nods now looking at the wound-It has healed completely except for one abnormal thing. A black little circle that was gently sticking out of his calf was just about the remnants of the bite.

"Not a good sign," The doctor mumbles under his breath. He stretches the skin around the black bulb.

Maxwell rolls up to Wash's side, "Alright, let me give you the run down."

"We've had several people come in with lacerations similar to this. Ornerds inject parasites into the blood stream, able to disguise itself where it's not targeted by white blood cells."

"What does the parasite do?"

Maxwell sighs, "It can change DNA immensely and quickly, so, before we go any further, tell me your name?"

"Washington, just call me Wash."

"One of the freelancers, ay? Not too lucky that you managed to get infected. Anyways, I need you to take off your kevlar suit. Will you need my help to do that?"

"No, but thank you," Wash carefully moves his legs to the edge of the bed and unlatches the back of the suit. Just him in his boxers now, a noticeable draft in the room

Maxwell nods, "Alright, Wash," He heads over to one of the drawers, pulling out a needle, "I'm going to give you something to see if... it's really at its extent."

"What-" Wash's voice is small and meek, "-What is it going to induce?"

"The medicine? Well, the first one is going to be a heavy pain sedative and the other will be the inducer," He turns back around to face Wash, "The parasite that is currently in your bloodstream and, already seems to be in your DNA, basically makes it so your body has the genes of an Ornerd. Most people that have been infected have been to morph, you could say, into one. It's some Animorph type shit, I know."

"What?"

"Never read Animorphs? Come on the remakes of the originals were way-"

"No, that's just- That's impossible. No way can a human change into one of those things."

Maxwell sighs, "Well, you won't like what the government does to people like you then."

"What? What do they do?" 

"Anyone suspected as half chicken half human is usually thrown into the western hemisphere where it's snow for miles and miles. Ornerds don't have skin good enough to help them, so they usually all die-"

"How do you know all this...?"

"Me? Well, being one of the doctors that forwards information to the capitol, I usually get information back."

"Wait, are you just going to kill me?" Wash doesn't realize until now that his teeth are clenched so so hard.

"After noticing a good portion of my patients ending up dying spontaneously, I've been trying my hardest to keep people like you alive. I don't know the full extent of the parasite, hell, you might just turn into an Ornerd one day and you're just stuck, but-" He leans in close to Wash, "-The government searches for every single thing they can that would prompt them into thinking you're half chicken. I can give you something to conceal the black pupil on your leg, as they'd strip you all down just to check for abnormalities."

Wash runs his fingers through his hair, "This was supposed to be a place where everything was beautiful and-" Wash makes air quotations. "-The most relaxing place in the galaxy."

"Sounds like you got scammed, then."

Wash groans, the hand that was in his hair now running over his face.

"Anyways, the sedatives won't kick in until a good ten minutes, so you will have to endure the pain of, well, all your bones rearranging themselves."

"What?! Are you insane?"

"Just doing my job, but afterward, it will be a lot calmer experience, I swear to you."

"Can you just... give me a minute to take this all in?" Maxwell rolls back from Wash, giving him a bit of space to think. Just breath, Wash. Everything will be alright. You'll see the sym troopers still, you'll still be breathing, and you'll still be alive.

"Okay, do what you... need to do."

Wash listens to Max rolling to his left leg on his chair, hand gently squeezing the inside of his thigh. Wash winces, feeling the needle quickly going through his skin and staying there for a good five seconds. It's pulled out, and Wash opens his eyes again. Max rolls back from the drawer with another syringe.

"This one, it's, well," Max sets his jaw, "-It's going through this black bulb on your leg."

Wash sets his head back and bites his lip, preparing himself for the-

He hears his bones cracking first, body almost not registering the pain until he feels it. Like someone running him over with a car, but backing up to just hit you again and again and again. He wants to scream, and he tries, but he can't. Like his body is trying to find out where his vocal chords are, digging and digging. His skin starts to itch, then burn. One of his eyes are forced open, and he sees his arm. Slowly, you can see black splotches crystallize on his arms and his fingernails- oh god. He wants to scream, his body wants to scream, she wants to-

The sound is pure agony as he hears it, and he can't stop. Everything hurts. There's thunder in his head, his leg palpitating, his skin scorching and he just wants to rip it off. He wants to rip out his jaw, his spine, his eyes. He wants it to stop.

_And it does._

_There's a warm hand on his shoulder, and it's so comforting._

_David._

_Yes?_

_I'm here._

_Who... Who are you?_

_Look at me, David._

_His face turns, the room blissfully white and he sees him._

_Him._

 

There's a stickiness when he opens his eye and everything seems vibrant and strong. A hand on his shoulder blade gently shakes him and Wash sits up slowly.

"Hey, Wash. This is Maxwell, now you need to just take it slow right now okay?" His voice is so clear and clean.

Wash sits up, eyes flickering down to himself. His body black and slimy, an apparent gleam on his chest from being... wet. he looks at his arms, wings attached to them that has an odd feathering to it.

"Wash, are you able to stand up for me?"

Clawed feet slipping a bit on the linoleum floor, but he's standing up completely now. He stretches, wanting the dulling pain in his spine to just go away. His head hits the ceiling light hard, and it feels as if he got punched in the top of his head. The boisterous thunder is flooding back into his ears, muffling everything and his vision is blurring to a white dot and-

 

_Wash shakes his head, "No, no, this isn't real." He sees Tucker, holding his energy sword whilst his arm is preparing for the swing. How does he not see Wash? Why is he looking at him like that? Like in slow motion, Tucker's arm swings and he can feel it singeing into his side and it feels like incineration._

_Wash feels liquid pours out of his mouth, an iron-like taste flooding on his taste buds._

_"It's me, Tucker! Drop your sword, please, Tucker I-I don't know what's happening please, drop your sword._

_He doesn't stop._

_The sword burns through his stomach **slowly.** It tears through his skin, muscle, intestines, and he can feel every bit of it. He can't move, but he can scream. And he screams and screams, not even trying to stop the tears from flowing down his face from the pain. _

_"Tucker- please-"_

 

 

Two hands are on cupping the sides of his face, "Wash? Are you awake?"

As slow as Wash can possibly manage, he lifts his head up and opens his eyes to see Doctor Maxwell. He pulls his hands away, a small string of liquid trailing off of him, a grumble coming from his throat, "You knocked yourself out. Wasn't too long, just about two minutes or so, but you'll be needing to turn back to your former self now. Okay?"

_No._

Wash shakes his head like he would a reflex, slowly making his way to stand up.

"Wash, you need to head out, I need to check on the others, so would you please let me see your leg."

_I don't want to feel that again._

Wash finds himself backing up into a desk, head shaking faster.

"I don't want to use the tranquilizer on you, Wash. I don't even want to touch the sedatives, Washington, those are in extreme cases which this is not."

_I don't want him to hurt me._

"Wash, you are not coming out of this office until you go back. "

Wash takes a deep breath, trying to keep his mind centered on that. His eyes lock with Maxwell's and he slowly sits down, exposing his leg to Max.

He sighs, "Thank you." He gets out another syringe from the drawer and puts some clear liquid into it. Maxwell's feet slowly make their way to Wash, careful placement with each step. He kneels down and raises his arm up, plunging it into Wash's leg.

 

_The white room fills with sand in every crevice, the wind making her hair get into her face as she struggles to walk just in a straight line. She wasn't able to hold on to them, her family, but she keeps on walking anyways. Tears fall down her face, and she crumples down into the desert floor. Holding herself and mind wanting to get out of here. The sand hitting her eyes and making it impossible just to get a single breath, it all feels like she's drowning as if the sand was filling up into her lungs. She hears the stomping of a beast but doesn't stop it from plunging it's teeth into her head._

 

His breath shakes, eyes searching the ceiling for recognition of where he is. It's unfamiliar, he needs to get out, he needs to find them-

"Woah there, tiger. You need to take it slow."

Wash's eyes spot Max, hands raised reassuringly. That's right. He's here on Frídus, in the hands of Doctor Maxwell. He looks down at his arms, skin back to its original feeling. Not sticky nor wet, just regular skin. Wash sighs, shoulders relaxing and heart beat slowing, but he straightens back up, eyes focusing in on Max.

"Why did you need to see me turn into that thing." His face was solemn, shoulders squared and unmoving.

"With every possibility, you could very likely not have been an Ornerd. It's better to check before anything goes wrong."

Wash shakes his head, "It's just- That was so painful..."

"You're right on that one. Hopefully, it won't be as bad if you were to do it again."

Wash's eyes widen, "Why would I need to?"

"There could be a different trigger of morphing. Let's just say high-stress situations do it, there would be no way of finding that out until it happens."

Wash runs his fingers through his hair, "Can I just, " He closes his eyes, "Can I just go. Aren't I done here?"

"Indeed you are, but just take it easy. Tell me if you want any pain killers or anything else, I'm here twenty-four seven. Your Kevlar is over on the counter, by the way."

Wash nods, feet hitting the linoleum floor that sends a shiver up his spine. He cautiously puts on the suit and makes his way out the office, using the wall to lean on. He turns the corner, eyes meeting with Tucker's first and he stands up.

"Dude, what the fuck was happening in there? It sounded like you were getting tortured or some shit."

"I'm fine, I was just-" Wash sets his jaw, "-getting a bad memory flash."

"Nothing else? No bone saw, or him pulling out your fingernails?"

"No...?"

  
"Oh thank God. How's your leg?"

"Healed, actually."

"What? What about the parasite?"

"It was false, the-uh- teeth wasn't able to make it into a vein."

"Wow," Tucker looks down at the floor, brows furrowing slightly, "Think you need to see Jenn to just check in. She's just in the building across from this one."

"Who's Jenn?"

"She was the lady that saw us when we got into town."

Wash nods and starts towards the door. A warm hand on his shoulder makes him fidget, and he turns to look at Tucker.

"Are you sure you're okay? Do you like, need help walking or anything? Legit, you just got your fucking leg mangled and now you're walking fine. Hell, you couldn't walk without support earlier. I just... I just have to make sure."

"It's fine Tucker, you can join, or whatever you want."

"Whatever, huh? Bow-chicka-bow wow."

"That's not-"

Tucker laughs, "I get it, I get it, but while we walk over, I need to get Carolina in with the Doctor next. Jenn says that it would be better to have you guys checked in, the freelancers first."

Wash nods and follows Tucker as they both walk out of the building and outside. The sun's bright, and you can actually see it rather than on Chorus where the canopy of the wildlife would block it. Tucker pushes open a door to another wood building, the sound of chatter silencing when they enter. The reds and blues all look at Wash, eyes curious and searching for signs of injury.

"I'm fine guys. It seems to have healed perfectly."

"Yup," Tucker starts,"And Carolina, you're wanted in there next, so you should, I don't know start making your way over."

Carolina stands up, gently patting Wash's shoulder as she walks past him. Chatter starts to stir back up into the room once the door shuts.

"So..." A girl with what looks to have vitiligo speaks up from behind a desk, "You're the legendary unkillable Agent, right?"

"You could say that." Wash walks up to the wooden counter.

"Alright, I already got your form set up, so can you just put your thumb on this for me?" She holds out a black rectangle similar to the one at the space station. The feeling of it is oddly smooth when he puts his thumb on it, but after a few seconds, Jenn gives him the okay to pull away.

"You want to ask about Kerman, right?"

"I also get to tell you where your room is, room six-two by the way, and ya' any information about Kerman would be good to have. Just tell me what happened to him and then I'll let you go."

"It was during the night, and he went out to go to the bathroom. We heard screaming and found his body in the morning."

She scribbles something down and looks up at him, beaming, "That will be all! Your luggage should already be in your room. Rooms are in the hallway on your left."

Wash nods and follows the directions, Caboose quickly running up beside him.

"Agent Washington! Are you okay?"

"Yes, Caboose, I'm doing good. The doctor says I'll be fine."

"Oh good. Oh, I also helped put your luggage into your room, Donut helped too!"

"Am I sharing a room with someone?"

"Yup!"

"Who?" Wash's eyebrows furrow.

"Just Carolina and Tucker. I did not want to be with Tucker, so Carolina is taking him on."

Wash nods, "Who are you sharing a room with, Caboose?"

"Doc and Donut! Our rooms are close, though, so I won't be too far from you, Agent Washington."

"You seem a bit more chipper today, Caboose. What's, uh, going on?"

"Oh, I just feel that I have other possible best friends, and someone else needs a turn."

"Yeah..." They stop at his designated door, and Caboose waves goodbye. He opens the door, a rustic smell taking place in the room. Two beds sat on the right of the room, a bathroom on the left and a small fridge and microwave in the back. Wash spots his bag, opening it frantically. Getting out of the Kevlar would be such a relief on his leg, it being so clingy can also really irritate the skin. Wash unclasped the Kevlar suit and puts on his shirt along with some sweat pants. It feels so nice having some breathing room and his leg feels a lot-

The bed creaks as Wash sits down on it, hands pulling up his pants leg and looking at the black bulbous thing in his leg. The skin around it looks a bit inflamed, a red itchiness to it. Hesitating, he puts two fingers on the black bulb, feeling it. A shiver goes down his spine, the bulb feeling like someone's closed eye. He pulls down his pant leg and sits back on the bed, back really starting to feel sore. He closes his eyes, really hoping he can sleep the pain off. 

 

_He coughs up blood, it tainting the desert sand. He should be dead, but no, he's holding his intestines in with his hands. Tucker... He looks at Wash as if he's a monster. What did he do? He can't concentrate. The pain is screaming into his ears, and he can feel that his body is slowing down all the more._

_"Tu-" Wash coughs up more blood, pain erupting from his throat at the attempt at speaking. He can feel that sand, scraping at his insides as he collapses. It's me, Tucker. Why Can't you see me? What did I do, Tucker? Please, don't... look at me like that._  

 

Wash sits up, hearing the door open, "Woah, dude, I was just coming in to ask you if you wanted to- Wait, are you okay?" Tucker questions.

Wash takes a few deep breaths, feeling his stomach for the gash, "I-I'm fine."

"You sure? Cause you are like super fucking pale."

"Yeah, just a bad dream."

Tucker's eyebrows furrow, "I can get Maxwell in here, or maybe even get you a glass of water-"

"I think the parasite is messing with me, Tucker."

"What? You said there wasn't a parasite in your leg!"

"I lied, okay? I don't want you guys to worry about me. It's nothing too much to worry about in the first place."

Tucker rolls his eyes, "Why do you have to make everything so fucking dramatic, Wash." Tucker sits down next to him on the bed, "So what the fuck's wrong."

"I think the parasite is giving me it's memories."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you," Wash swallows the lump in his throat, "I saw you cut me in half."

"What the fuck? Wash, you know I would never-"

"I could feel everything of what the Ornerd went through. It was," His arms tighten around himself, "It's one of the most painful things I have ever experienced."

"Wait, so when did you experience this?"

"I passed out in the Doctors office, and just now when I was asleep. I've actually been getting blank dreams recently. Recovering, you could say."

"Dude, that is so fucked up." Tucker looks down at the carpeted floor, "I'm sorry, that's just wrong. So fucking wrong on so many fucking levels." His hand is on Wash's shoulder, warm and comforting, he feels himself leaning into it slightly.

"I'm sorry, it felt like you should know sooner or later."

"I just- Wash, you know I would never do that to you right."

Wash looks at him, biting his lip.

"Wash, come ooon."

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just, I would understand if you did. I've done so many wrongs to you guys."

"Wash, listen to me. We've talked about this before, I would never hurt you, as well as any of the other guys."

"Sorry,"

"No, no, no you're okay. Now, what I came in here for was to ask you if you wanted to go to one of the bars. A few others would be coming with."

"Yeah, that'd be great." Wash stands up as well as Tucker, following him out of the room. Why did he have to say that to him? He could have just kept quiet, but-

Wash shakes his head slightly. You know better, Wash. They care about you, and you can trust them. Wash keeps his attention on Tucker's shoes hitting the floor, making a nice yet quiet noise. They exit out of the building and continue walking outside.

"Man, this sun is hot."

"Yeah, do you know how long we're staying in this town?"

"From what I've heard, we're planning on leaving two days from now or even later tomorrow."

"Alright, good to know. Is this the bar?" They stop walking in front of another wood building, this one with a sign that reads 'Crane Alley.'

"Yup, think so." Tucker pushes open the door, holding it open for Wash.

"Thanks," The inside of the building is oddly vast, a nice vibe to it as well. There are neon orange lights here and there, and right at the main bar is Grif and Simmons.

"Hey, did you guys all ready order?" Tucker sits down next to Grif.

"Yeah, you were taking too long."

"Fucking five minutes is long for you, huh? Bow-Chicka-bowwow." 

"Can you do that with your own fucking joke?" Simmons grimaces.

Wash sits down next to Tucker, a memory rushing to his head of North and York heading out to a bar in their free time. North invited him too, it was an uneventful night for Wash anyways. A girl walks over on the other side of the counter.

"Welcome to Crane Alley, what can I get you two today?"

"Few shots of whiskey, or more, hell, might as well enjoy this experience while I'm here. You want anything, Wash?"

"I don't think I should be drinking right now."

Tucker smiles, "Great, you can get me back to our room if I get too drunk, Wash."

She nods, preparing a shot glass for Tucker.

"So how's your leg?" Grif says between taking a sip of his drink.

"Fine, like I've said, it's clearing up, though."

"You were the group that got attacked by an Ornerd, right?" The bartender asks.

"Yeah, got a bite out of Wash's leg."

"And Kerman too? Damn, he was a nice guy. He's been working as an escort for four years, what a shame."

Wash swallows the lump in his throat, "How often do people get attacked by an Ornerd?"

"Not too often, I'd say. This was our first one in a good couple of months. Really unlucky they got to you guys."

"Do the Ornerds ever come into the town?" Simmons asks.

"Not usually. It's often busy enough where we can make at least a good amount of commotion where they won't even try it," She sets down a shot glass for Tucker with whiskey. 

"Simmons can you even drink alcohol?" Tucker asks before taking in a shot.

"Yeah, I can. Being a cyborg practically makes hangovers impossible, so suck it." 

 

"How many are you planning on having, Tucker?" Wash asks.

"I don't know man, I just want to get drunk so I can stop thinking about Kermit."

"Right," 

"You still need to watch the muppets, dude. If I have anything to deal with it, you're at least watching one episode."

"Alright, alright, if it's really that good."

"Not really," Simmons says, "I never really found it funny."

"That's because you have a terrible sense of humor." Grif comments. 

"What! I do  _not._ "

"You found a fucking knock knock joke funny."

"It was a well-written joke! What can I fucking say?"

Wash smiles, memories of when he hanged out with North and York. Or Connie, Maine... Wash discourages the thought, focusing back on to the conversation.

 

* * *

 

A good hour passes and Grif and Simmons have left back to their rooms, leaving Wash to a drunk Tucker. Most of the night is just random things said by Tucker himself, and it's nice to just listen to someone talk, even if it is nonsense, it's calming. 

Wash merely listens to more of his ramblings and takes them in one by one. His favorite quotes of the night are:

"You could be, you know, be the other Father for Junior, right?"

"The water here is just, wetter than on chorus."

"Why is it that when I say bow-chicka-bowwow, no one else does?"

And one of the more concerning of the few; "I miss Junior, we haven't been able to do the video calls..."

Wash's eyebrows furrow, "I can see if we can get a hold of Doctor Maxwell, or even Jenn, to see if we can set up a video call."

"I'd like that." Tucker is quiet, an odd version you wouldn't think of him being while intoxicated. A louder or even more boisterous was expected, at the very least anyways. 

"Do you want to do that now? I can even see if my datapad would work."

"He's been busy."

"With... what?"

"The usual school work, last time I talked to him, he said he's had a lot of projects due soon."

"When was that...?"

"I can't remember."

"I bet he's doing good on those projects, Tucker, he seems like a responsible kid."

Tucker smirks, "Yeah, he plays basketball too."

"Yeah, you've told me." Wash smiles too, the image in his head of Tucker looking out for Junior, being there for his basketball...games, "Have you ever seen him play? Basketball, I mean."

"Once, it was when he first started. He videotaped himself shooting a hoop."

The smile fades on Wash's face, Tucker hasn't interacted much with his son, and it's concerning. 

"I'll make sure I can get you to be in contact with him. I'll find a way for you, Tucker."

Tucker nods, solemn.

"Do you want to head back to the room, Tucker?"

"Sure, Wash."

Wash nods, standing up as Tucker follows suit. Wash carefully helps him walk, having his arm supporting his shoulders. To be honest, Wash wouldn't mind if he got drunk too, today has been in every way painful. A break would be nice for those thoughts to simmer down. I guess that's why they're in Frídus in the first place, though. They walk out of the bar, both of them shuffling to the hotel on their own pace. They open the door, walk down the long hallway and shimmer in. Carolina already seemed to have taken claim of one of the beds, the other free of anyone. He lets go of Tucker, and watches him adjust into bed. He does, though, quickly look away as Tucker starts to take off his shirt. Wash quietly walks over to his bag, getting out a few pairs of clothes that will work as a pillow and sets them down on the floor. He rests his head down, the room noticeably hot and musky, no blanket needed. He closes his eyes, hoping that he won't be having any dreams tonight, it would be too hard to handle if he feels that again.

 

 

 

 


	3. The Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I finally posted another chapter of this! I am... very lazy l m a o.   
> My energy for writing kind of died out and I deeply apologize for the long wait for such a short chapter too.   
> I can't promise you next chapter to come any faster, but I will try.   
> Anyways, thank you~
> 
> (also sorry for any errors its 3am and I wanted to finally post this I'll probably fix them later)

Tucker groans, head thumping and he rolls over onto his back. Eyes flickering open to see the sun draping into the room through the window. He squints, seeing Carolina gone from her bed, but someone else's breathing still is in the room. Tucker sits up slowly, trying to ignore a headache looming over him. On the floor, Wash is curled up with a pile of clothes as a pillow. 

Tucker rolls his eyes and whispers, "Wash, you idiot."

Of course, he slept on the floor, Tucker and Carolina took up the spots on the bed and- Did Wash bring Tucker onto the bed too? Tucker runs his hands down his face. He fucking chose to sleep on the floor while he was severely injured and could obviously need better rest and... Well, he's sleeping, at the least. He never really got much sleep on Chorus, so even if he's asleep on the floor, he's asleep at the very least. Maybe Tucker should move him onto his bed? He slowly steps down onto the carpeted floor, trying to create as little noise as possible as he puts on his boxers. Should he? If it grants him better sleep then maybe. He steps closer to Wash. He looks so calm while he's asleep, his face relaxed, mouth opened slightly, and not looking like he has a worry in the world. Tucker smiles, and walks a bit closer to him and kneels down. Tucker rests his hand on his cold shoulder, gently shaking him.

His eyes shoot open, his whole body jostling slightly as he wakes up, "Tucker?" His eyes squint, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Dude, you fell asleep on the floor, you can head up onto my bed if you want, I don't care."

Wash sits up rubbing his eyes, "It's fine, I probably should get moving anyways. What time is it?"

Tucker cranes his neck to see the clock sitting on his end table, "About ten."

"What?" Wash's hand drops down, "I couldn't have slept in that long, that's not..."

"You sure fucking did," Tucker stands up and stretches.

"Could you please wear something else other than boxers?" Wash's eyes fidget to a corner in the room.

"What? Do you like the show?" Tucker winks, "But yeah, I was going to anyways."

"Thanks," Wash stands up. 

"Did you really have to sleep on the floor? You could have like, slept with Carolina or even in my bed. I wouldn't have cared, dude."

"I just wanted to give you two space, I guess." Wash crosses his arms.

"You were physically fucking injured a day ago, hell, you could have just thrown me on the floor."

"My leg's... fine like I've said before."

Tucker shrugs, putting a loose tank top on, "Still," He ruffles through his bag, finding a pair of sweat pants, "Breakfast is probably ready by now downstairs, I'll be heading down there for some food soon anyways."

"There's a dining room?"

"Yeah, it's to the right hallway, I think." Tucker grabs his datapad.

"For such a small town, they really care well."

"Yeah, they do. Must get some benefits from the oasis or whatever." He pulls the sweatpants up and slips on socks along with his shoes. He walks to the door and holds it open, "You comin'?" 

"Yeah, thanks." They walk down the hallway in comfortable silence, but Wash meets his eyes with Carolina once they make it into the fairly large dining room.

"Wash, you didn't have to sleep on the floor-"

"I know, I know, but the two of you looked like you were comfortable."

"You don't get much sleep, Wash, it's better for you to get a bed."

"You don't really either, Carolina." His voice felt cold.

"You were injured-"

Tucker speaks up, "Okay, okay, you guys both feel a bit sorry for what happened. Wash, let's just eat something."

Wash nods slowly and follows Tucker to the buffet. They come back to Carolina's table with plates of food that.

Carolina stretches her neck, "We'll be leaving this place in a few hours."

"Oh thank God, I'm really wanting to see this god-like oasis already." Tucker sighs in relief.

"Yeah," Wash smiles slightly, "For what it's all cracked up to be, I'm curious about what it'll look like."

"Carolina, have you talked to Kimball yet?"

"I have. A multitude of ships has come to Chorus and gave them a marvelous amount of supplies. They have yet to find Locus, though. Only traces of him."

"Ugh, hearing about him makes me sick," Tucker rolls his eyes.

Wash straightens, "Do you think he would have been able to escape off of one of the cargo ships?"

"It's a possibility, but I doubt it. He's a wanted criminal if he's seen he'd most likely get executed on the spot or taken into custody."

"I'm just glad we all have a break," Tucker says, prodding his food onto his fork.

Wash nods, "Yeah... I agree."

The food was cooked like a professional made it. It's so drastic from eating the bland military food that they've eaten a thousand times before. Tucker looks over at Wash and he seems to be having more of a better reaction to it than Tucker. 

"The food... I haven't tasted something like this in decades." Wash says, "And butter? Sugar? Oh my god... We are really done with all that military shit."

 

* * *

 

 

"Come on guys!" Donut calls, "I don't want us to miss the transit!" 

"It just got here, Donut!" Tucker calls back, pulling his luggage across the sand.

"I just want to make sure. It  _is_ on a timer for fifteen minutes until it'll take us to the Capitol." With a jump in his steps, he goes up the stairs and into the train.

Grif strolls up next to Tucker, "Dude, I am so ready for this."

"Yeah, from what the brochures look like, I am ready for a whole week of pampering."

"I wish it was longer." Grif mumbles.

"Same here." They walk into the train. The walls are mostly metallic with small splashes of dark green surround the mass amounts of windows. Donut sits in one of the chairs, reclining back as he looks at them.

"This is amazing! The train should follow the tracks until it reaches the city!" Donut's voice hushes into an excited whisper, "Gosh, I am so excited!"

Everyone overtime makes their ways into the train and finds their seats. In a matter of minutes, the train takes off. Tucker looks out the window, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. It really is just miles upon miles of desert. The other side of the planet must be the same thing, but just with snow. Tucker sits back into his seat, now looking at the rounded ceiling. To make this ride any better, they'd just have to add t.v screens. A movie would be nice to watch.

"How long's the ride?" Tucker pipes up.

"An hour at most, the transit can go pretty fast." Simmons answers.

"Do you know how fast?"

"Why the fuck would I?"

"Well, you at least know is goes fast in the first place." 

Simmons crosses his arms, "It was just in the brochure, obviously you guys just looked at the pictures."

Tucker rolls his eyes and goes back to looking at the ceiling. Some chatter rolls into Tucker's ears, and it's a nice sound. It means they're not shooting anything.

 

* * *

 

Tucker's eyes open slowly. He must have fallen asleep. He stretches, a yawn following it. A small peer out the window shows the desert sand rushing past, and what looks to be a vast city up ahead. His eyes widen, seeing so many tall buildings scattered amongst other different buildings. It looks so modern and clean. They finally get a break, as there were a few small cracks- no- big cracks, it can hopefully get better from here. He looks away from the window, seeing Simmons asleep on Grif's shoulder who just seems to be dazedly looking up at the ceiling. In another row of seats, it's Sarge quietly playing a game of cards with Carolina and Donut along with Doc watching over their shoulders. Caboose is fast asleep sitting next to Wash while he watches the scenery go by. The sun just seems to roll so nicely into his hair, and you could still see the freckles that dotted his face even from here.

_Dammit._

Tucker bites his lip, turning back to the window. 

_So yes, Wash is attractive as fuck, but you knew that ever since you saw him without his helmet. So why is it now of all times that you want to curl around him?_

_Maybe because he's been severely injured and quite possibly has another thing in his head that's troubling him, and hell, he probably needs the comfort._

Tucker rolls his eyes at the mental debate in his head, still, it's something to think about. Well, Wash very well could not be into guys. It doesn't hurt to find out or even try, though. Tucker snaps his attention back to the city that has been getting closer and closer as the minutes roll by. A small ding from the monitor towards the front of the train grabs basically everyone's attention.

"You will be arriving Vaha in approximately one minute. Please get ready to leave the train car."

For a moment, everyone was silent, processing what they heard, but sighs of relief and even cheers filled the train car right after.  _Excitement._ It's been a while to be so happy about something without the risk of lives on the line. 

The train stops and the door slides open, a woman standing behind it in formal clothing.

"Welcome to Vaha."

Everyone gets out of the train and seeing the city up close is even better than far way. Ginormous buildings towering over them, lots of people walking down the sides of the streets. 

"My name is Maeleth Sigihild. I will be your assistant to-" Her brows furrow, "-Where... is your escort?"

"While heading to the town," Wash speaks up, "we were attacked by an Ornerd."

"Oh dear Lord!" She covers her mouth with one of her hands. "Don't tell me it was Kerman? He has been one of our escorts the longest."

"It ...was."

Her face grimaces, "I told him to stop taking this job after the first incident he had! God, I am so sorry for what you had to go through, and... I apologize for my outburst." 

Sarge put a hand on her shoulder, "Did you know him, little lady?"

"Business friends, you could say. We both started our jobs roughly at the same time, so when he escorted a group of people we would chat."

Carolina's face hardens, "What  _was_ the first incident."

Maeleth swallows a lump in her throat, "I-It was when his whole group got caught in a sandstorm, and some people split up and..."

Carolina nods, "I apologize... for bringing that up for you."

Maeleth clears her throat, "Let's get you guys to your rooms. After your settled in, we'll bring a doctor to where you will be staying." She starts walking, and everyone else follows, "If you so wanted to share a room, go on ahead! There _are_ at least two bedrooms per stay."

"What? How expensive is this" Simmons questions. 

"Oh, who was it... Kimball? She told us the universe's heroes need a vacation, so we're giving you one of our best stays for no payment at all! It's an honor having you guys here."

"Really...? For free?"

"Of course! Charon Industries did hold our own company back, as he had a deal with our now resigned founder. Thankfully, we now have someone else in charge! We've been able to make more money ever since. On another note, you guys ended up getting here a little bit in the evening, which is a little sad, but I can assure you that you can do these several marvelous things tomorrow! We have our casinos and a multitude of pubs around the town, and you will be given a map in your room..." 

Tucker walks to the back of the group, meeting up with Wash, "Hey, you wouldn't mind sharing one of these stay's right?"

"I don't know why you would, Tucker. You can have a whole place to yourself."

"Yeaaah, I could, but you probably need someone to liven up this stay for you. Much more easy to just live with you if we're going to watch any shows."

Wash squints, looking over at Tucker, "Sure..."

 

* * *

 

 

Tucker opens the door to their room, eyes opening wide with the sight, "Dude, holy fuck!" It was a giant room. What laid in the center was a living room, a decent sized kitchen, and not to mention large planes of glass where you could basically see for miles.

Tucker runs in, "What the fuck! Is that a hot tub on a fucking balcony that I see?" He jumps up and down, tears building up already. He holds his head and looks at Wash, a big smile on his face, "We can finally get a break! We don't have to worry about anything here."

Wash walks up next to Tucker, smiling, "I agree on a full blown one-hundred percent. This place is marvelous. Are the rooms up those stairs?"  Wash goes up with no question, opening one of the doors, "Oh my god, Tucker."

"What? What is it?" Tucker makes it up the stairs himself.

"Look at this! This bedroom is like something out of a painting!"

Tucker looks in, seeing a giant bed, a t.v across from the thing, walk in closet... The list can keep going for ages, "Oh man, thank you, Kimball!" Tucker walks towards the other door, seeing the same room but in a different layout from the other one. Tucker quickly tosses his luggage onto the bed and jumps onto it. It is something vastly different from the beds in that small ass town they visited a day before,  _this_ is like something fit for a God. The sheets smell pleasant and feels like the softest thing he has ever lied on. Tucker curls up, taking it all in.

_We're safe here._

Tucker rubs away a few tears and just lies there for a solid five minutes. His eyes flash open and he sits up, getting out his datapad and dialing Junior. It rings for a few seconds and... there he is! 

"Junior you will not believe where I'm at right now."

"Hey, Dad!" His voice is so sweet and gentle and doesn't have that much of an accent from where Tucker can last remember.

"Okay, okay, we're in this vacation town on this planet called Frídus and I'm in the hotel right now and this is one of the best beds I've ever lied on. Here let me show you the view I have! It's so cool!" Tucker gets off the bed and stands at the edge of the stairs, holding the datapad up towards the giant paneled windows. He turns it back towards himself, making his way down the stairs and sitting down on the couch.

"God, Junior... I wish I could experience this with you."

"Yeah, seems like quite the stay."

"Your English has gotten a lot better, kid! How's school treating you?"

"It's been going okay, it's school. Oh! I made it into a top team for basketball! Coach says I'm one of the best on the team."

"You got any games recorded?"

"Yeah, actually. Here I'll send it to you right now." Juniors hand moves and a notification rings on the data pad, "It's the last match I had and it was against The Red Ravens and it was a pretty close game. We won seventy-one to sixty-five."

"Wow, that's amazing, kiddo. I'm... I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad. How has your trip been?"

"Well we were dropped off and had to walk to a town because of the governments an ass or something," Tucker rolls his eyes,"But then uh... Wash got injured on the walk there. He's fine though, and uh, now I'm here."

Junior's head cocks a little, "How did he get injured?"

"Uh, it was a puncture wound, accidentally uh..."

"Dad, come on, you can tell me what happened. I'm not  _that_ young."

Tucker sighs, "I guess, but you have to keep this hush-hush, all right?" Junior nods, "All right, good. Well, there's this weird creature that stormed out makeshift camp as we were trying to make our way to the town. It managed to get our escort and Wash's leg."

"It tore his leg off?!"

"No, no, no, it just managed to bite him. It's pretty much healed now, which is strange."

"Oh good, kinda. Wash seems pretty important to you."

"What? After me telling you about his injuries you say that?"

"Well, yeah, no duh, but you've talked about him a lot in our last call. Which was a good month ago."

"I'm... I'm sorry, Junior. Chorurs was a giant mess and-"

"No, it's good. I saw you and the rest up on screen one night. Saved a planet and took out an evil company."

Tucker laughs a little, "Yeah, that's why we're on vacation in the first place."

"Well, you deserve it. Oh! About that monster that attacked us, I managed to kill it! Got a good swipe on my sword and done."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me about that sooner!"

 

The call goes on for about ten minutes, Tucker eagerly listening to his stories, then telling one back.

"I'm glad you've got a hold of him finally," Wash says, sitting down next to him.

"You weren't listening that whole time were you?" Tucker squints.

He puts his hands up in defense, "No, no just kinda had a short nap and came down the stairs. Here I am."

Tucker sighs, "I can't believe we're here. It's like something out of a dream."

"Yeah..."

"How's your leg doing?"

"A little bit... itchy. Not hurting at all."

"That's gross? I'm not too sure at this rate. You want to watch something on this huge ass t.v? I don't have anything planned today except for relaxing in this room because this is some high-class shit."

"Yeah, sure. Don't you want me to watch an episode of the Muppets?"

"Oh yeah, but I'm really not sure if they would have it." Tucker grabs the remote to the t.v, turning it on and running through the channels. Tucker looks over at Wash, his eyebrows furrowed.

"That kinda sucks." 

"We, uh, can go use the hot tub ...instead, uh, Wash? Is your nose bleeding?"

Wash's finger gently taps a finger by his nostril, pulling it back to see blood. He gets up, "If you can excuse me for a second," He walks past the kitchen, probably into a bathroom. Tucker's fingers fidget, and he sighs, getting up off the couch and into the kitchen. Has to be some kind of alcohol in here. Tucker peers into the fridge, there's plenty of food, but no classic can of beer. He looks above the cupboard, standing on the tops of his toes. Surely enough, there's a wine rack above the cupboard. Why is it all the way up there? As careful as he can, he pulls out a bottle of wine. 

Wash walks out of the bathroom, holding a tissue up to his nose.

"Is your nose alright-" Tucker places a hand on Wash's shoulder and he jolts away. Tucker's hand crumples back down to his side, "I, uh, when you're done bleeding, I guess, we can head into the jacuzzi."

"Uh... sure.  You can head in there if you want, I don't want to keep you waiting."

Tucker nods, "I'll go get changed then." He heads up the stairs, getting changed into his swim trunks.

The air outside on the porch is actually pretty warm already and the sun already seems to be setting. They did get here a little later than he would have hoped. He shakes his head and places the wine down onto a small table beside the hot tub., now focussing on getting water into this thing. Can it refill on itself? Tucker uncaps a cover to a panel that a few knobs and such seemed to be covered under. He presses down on one of the buttons hearing a sort of sputtering from it, and carefully, he peers up, seeing water spilling into it. 

Well, that was really lucky.

After a few more adjustments the water is basically at the perfect temperature. Tucker has been sitting in it for about seven minutes now, any noise he hears draws him to look back, hoping that it would be Wash. Tucker has already poured two glasses of wine and has been swirling his own wine to do something besides sit here.

The door opens and Tucker turns around, seeing Wash in his kevlar suit, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"It's my Kevlar-"

"-Yes, I understand that it's your kevlar suit, but why aren't you wearing your swim suit?"

Wash sighs, "I'm going in regardless, with my kevlar on or not, so," He goes to the opposite side of where Tucker's sitting and gets in.

"There's wine on the table for you."

He looks at it,  sighs then grabs the glass and takes a big swig of the wine. Tucker's eyes widened, watching as he downs the whole glass. He sets it back down on the table, then looks at Tucker.

"...What?"

Tucker raises his free hand, "Oh nothing, nothing. Just wasn't really expecting that." Tucker takes a drink of his own wine, "Would you... want me to pour you more wine?"

"All or nothing, Tucker. I just want a break right now."

"All right, all right," He leans over, refilling Wash's glass and his own, and hands his glass back to Wash, "I know I've asked this a lot, but really, how is your leg?"

"Well, we're all going to be appointed to a doctor sooner or later, so I guess I'll find out then, but it's like-" Wash's eyebrows furrow and sets his jaw,"-Like it's making the Kevlar stretch a little?"

"What... What do you mean by that?"

"Not the wound, but the bandages rather. It's just a little uncomfortable and I'm debating to get resized for it just because of it."

"Well, you don't have to be wearing your kevlar for a good while, but you are right now because you're a dork. I'm thinking it will heal up before you'd have to worry about resizing it." Tucker downs a little more of his wine.

"Yeah, that's right," Wash shakes his head and puts his glass on the table, "I'm not really thinking straight."

Tucker drinks the last of his wine in his glass. _Yeah, I'm not thinking straight either when I'm around you._

"So, Tucker, why exactly did you want to stay in the same hotel room with me?"

"To just be honest, I want to make sure you're safe? I guess? It sounds super fucking stupid, but the sounds that were coming from that doctor's office yesterday sounded like you were in a lot of pain."

Wash moves lower into the water, his mouth not visible anymore. He closes his eyes for a second, then quickly shoots down more into the water and comes back up sputtering a little.

"Ah, that's hot."

"No, duh."

He slicks his hair back out of his face and says, "I'm not trying to be dramatic really, but if I told you what happened in that room, I think you would worry a lot more than you are now. Let's just... leave it at that."

Tucker places his glass on the table and rests his head back, closing his eyes. 

"Hey, Tucker...?" 

"Yeah?" Tucker answers, unmoving. 

"I, well... Thanks for worrying about me."

"Yeah... No problem."

 

* * *

 

 Tucker's fist bangs against the door, "Grif! Let me in!" He stops, hearing the latch unlock and seeing the door open.

"Dude, what the fuck? Why the hell are you wet too?" 

"You have to let me in first okay? This is fucking great."

Grif grumbles opening the door wider to let Tucker in, "Alright, Tucker, why did you have to come to me of all people? Why not a blue."

"I don't want to say this shit to Caboose, and Church isn't here, so I have to tell someone at least."

"Okay, okay, what the hell is it."

"I'm really wanting to hit it off with Agent Washington."

"Yeah, no duh."

"What?" Tucker says, a little dumbfounded.

"It's kind of obvious if you look. You both stare at each other a lot, plus you both are sharing a hotel room with each other."

"I guess, but this is like serious business, Grif. I need a wingman or someone to help me at least."

"Nope, I'm out with that."

"Come on, Grif. I'll buy you a free dinner at some fancy ass restaurant."

"That man will not budge if you're trying to woo him, Tucker. Not even can help with that. Don't fucking force it, especially with a guy like that, and just take it step by step with a guy like him."

"Where do I even start?" Tucker leans up against the wall.

"You kind of already started, you're sharing a basically smaller version of a house together, so that's something."

Tucker closes his eyes. eyebrows furrowing, "I have to do  _something._ "

"Maybe start off with something simple. You don't need to have a giant elaborate plan for him to love you."

"Oh! I got it!" Tucker says, "I'll make him breakfast!"

Grif raises his eyebrow, a small smile on his face, "You gonna wake up early enough too?"

"It's fucking worth it. He'll probably get up around six unless he sleeps in."

Grif nods, "Sounds like you'll have yourself situated. Now please leave so I can go the fuck to sleep."

 

 Tucker yawns, rhythmically shaking the pan with eggs in it. This is basically the last bit of breakfast that he has planned to prepare and so far he's made sausages and pancakes. If Tucker had more energy, he would probably strive for making an omelet, but scrambled eggs will have to work its justice. He turns off the burner moves the pan over, sliding the eggs onto two plates he has prepared. He grabs them both, setting them down at a table. Tucker hesitates before digging his fork into his pancakes, as he could wait for Wash or just start eating. Tucker yawns and shakes his head lightly, eating his breakfast. 

Minutes go by, Tucker's not sure how much, and Wash comes down there stairs still in his pajamas. 

"You made breakfast?" 

"Mhmm," Tucker swallows the food he had in his mouth, "It's not the greatest, but you deserve a breakfast that isn't shitty." 

"Oh-I- Thank you...Tucker." He sits down and starts eating.

Tucker smiles and nods, "Don't mention it."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the first very chapter of TMATC!  
> I will like to say that this chapter is a bit shorter than what the other's will be, and the next chapter will certainly be updated on Wednesday instead of Today, a Saturday.  
> Thank you again!


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